Hurt
by ChristinaAngel
Summary: Neji takes his anger out on Tenten, seriously hurting her. Will she forgive him? And will Neji receive help from somewhere unexpected? NejiTen Rating just in case. SEQUEL NOW POSTED.
1. Hurt

**My first ever oneshot! I'm so proud of myself because I managed to write a oneshot that (hopefully) managed to make sense! Whoop!**

**Disclaimer: In my dreams.**

**Warnings: NejiTen (duh), SasuSaku (because it's me and I love them) and minor NaruHina (they're so cute!). Also major OCCness especially for Neji, Sasuke and Hinata because they are my puppets! Dance puppets dance!**

**Hurt**

Tenten hurried to the training grounds, fixing one of her buns up at the time. She was _so_ late. Granted it was just 2 minutes but Neji had always been a stickler for punctuality especially for his training. Naruto had softened him, but Neji had confided in Tenten that his goal now was to never lose again after Naruto and Kidomaru, so when it came to training, Neji was still more like pre-fight-with-Naruto Neji.

She finally arrived at the training grounds for her daily sparring with Neji.

"Neji!" She called out when she saw the solitary figure used Juuken Ryuu on a training dummy. He turned stiffly when he heard her voice.

"You're late." He said quietly and Tenten realised the barely contained rage in the lines of his body.

"I know and I'm really sorry. My alarm clock stopped working so I woke up an hour after I was supposed to." Tenten finished with a nervous laugh. She hadn't seen Neji this way since before the Chunnin exams and even then it was only after he was mad at the main house. "Neji, is something wrong?" Tenten asked gently, not wanting to anger him more.

"No." His reply was short, sharp and cold. "Now let's spar." He said activating his Byakugan and getting into his Kaiten stance.

"Okay Neji." Tenten agreed. Whatever helped relieve the anger, she thought. She was retrieving her scrolls, which she was trying to practice using without using too much chakra, when she was hit by Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou (Eight Divination Signs, 128 Palms of the Hand). Neji finished off by flinging her against a tree.

"An enemy will not wait for you to prepare for battle, you have to ready in an instant. I do not know why I train with such a weakling, such as you." Neji said coldly as he stood above Tenten. A part of Neji could not believe he was saying these things to Tenten, his teammate, sparring partner and, even though he would never admit it out loud, his friend. The other part of Neji, the one controlling his mouth was mad at Tenten for not having any family so she didn't have to deal with any the problems that came with it, plus for thinking she could _understand _what he was going through when she clearly could not.

Meanwhile while Neji was saying all these cruel things, Tenten's mind was in shock. She just felt numb; it couldn't be Neji saying these things, could it? However when he called her a weakling, a small part of her brain, the bit that always made her keep fighting until the end, sparked into life and said to her, _Are you going to take that from him? He may be brilliant, and he may be hot and we may have had a crush on him since forever__, BUT you can't take those insults lying down. Now ignore the fact that you hurt all over, get up slowly, without shaking, look him straight in the eye and give it back to him! _Now Tenten didn't normally listen to this part of her brain in everyday life, mainly because it was suicidal, but today it actually made sense. She stood slowly so it looked like she was just increasing the tension instead of screaming inside, tilted her head up from its downward position and looked Neji straight in the eye. There was a hint of surprise in Neji's eyes at the expression in hers, but he stared back coldly.

"Neji," Tenten started in a low quiet voice. "I don't mind if you don't tell me what's wrong, heck I don't even care if you take out your frustrations on me physically but if you want someone who will just stand still and take your insults without fighting back then go and find one of you fan club who are so delusional that they won't really care what you say to them. Just leave me alone."

"No Tenten. Our spar isn't over yet." Neji's mouth seemed to be running on its own accord now, he couldn't seem to stop what he was saying.

"Yes is it. You won, whopee for you. Now go and find Lee and spar with him." Neji saw he wasn't going to get anywhere with her, so he decided to just do as she said and allow her some time to calm down. As soon as Tenten could no longer feel Neji's chakra, she allowed her shaking legs to give way and to give into the darkness that seemed so welcoming.

**Back at the village,**

"Hinata sama have you sorted out the problem yet?" Neji asked as he came across Hinata at Naruto's favourite ramen stand.

"Y...yes I have. It may take a while but it can be sorted out." Hinata said proudly, and Sakura who was with her looked at her with pride.

"Hey you only stuttered once there! You can almost get to the point where you don't stutter at all." Sakura said. "Where is Tenten Neji-san?"

"Why should I know?" Neji said quickly but in his usual cold manner. Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"What did you do." She stated.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked. Sakura snorted and Hinata watched this exchange like you would watch a tennis match.

"Neji-san, although you are a cold bastard, on my team is the coldest bastard of them all. In fact he was such a cold bastard he left me on a bench as he left Konoha, which today is the anniversary is of which is why you really don't want to piss me off today. But that doesn't matter so much because me and Naruto are going to drag him back by his hair if we have to. The point is that you and Sasuke-kun are sort of alike and I can tell when you are lying and at the moment you are lying, so tell me where Tenten is." Neji looked freaked by this speech while Hinata looked sympathetic. She had been hoping that Sakura had forgotten about today but it looked like she had just pushed it to the back of her mind. Sakura spoke again, "More importantly Neji-san, what did you do to her."

"I did my Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou on her but it was during a sparring match." Neji said as he tried not to look like he was justifying his actions because he never did that.

"And?" Sakura asked in a dangerous voice. "Hyuuga-san you better tell me everything very fast."

"I may have done it before she had a chance to get her scrolls out and I have may have called her a weakling."

"WHAT!?!" Sakura shrieked.

"Sakura-san please keep your voice down." Hinata begged as all the people on the street stared at them. Sakura leapt up and put Neji in a headlock and kept him there, using her newly learned super-human strength. Sakura marched with Neji to a more deserted place where she could scream at him while Hinata quickly paid for the ramen and went after them.

At the Team 7's old training grounds, Sakura stood with Neji still in a headlock with Hinata beside them.

"Now Neji-san you have to understand something," Sakura started in a sugary sweet voice. "Tenten and I are very alike. We both have very gifted teammates. For her it's the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan and the genin specialist in taijutsu, for me it's one of the last remaining survivors of the Uchiha clan and the dobe of the class who exceeded everyone's expectations." Sakura released Neji and he shook himself and looked at Sakura who was staring into space remembering.

"Before I started training under Tsunade-sama, I was the weak member of Team 7, the strange pink haired girl who had no chance of ever catching up to her more skilled teammates. Tenten is unlike me in that respect, she was never weak, she was the Weapons Mistress in her own right, but don't you see Neji-san?" Sakura pleaded, finally looking at Neji. "Don't you understand how much worse it is for me and Tenten, maybe even Hinata and Ino-pig, when we are called weak? It's hard to explain. Do you always beat Tenten in spars?" Neji nodded. "Does she put up a good fight?" Again Neji nodded. "For Tenten she has to train so much harder to even stand a chance against you. And then for you to call her weak despite all this effort, it's like telling Naruto, 'Yeah we know how far you have come but we still can't make you Hokage because it doesn't matter how hard you try you will never be powerful enough'. Tenten needs to train twice as hard as you to even stay at the same level; it's the same with me, Naruto and Sasuke-kun. It's so hard just to stay at the same level as them, that I couldn't even think of surpassing them but I still try anyway. And I think that's how Tenten feels. You have to apologise to her." Neji looked at her and then to everyone's surprise he bowed slightly.

"Thank you Haruno-san. And I have no doubt in my mind that you and Naruto will be able to bring Uchiha-san back." Sakura smiled as he ran off.

"Hinata do you want to spar? After all you have to defeat your father if you want to abolish the Branch House." Sakura said. Hinata nodded and got into a Juuken Ryuu (Gentle Fist) stance.

"I...I will do it for Neji-nii-san and Naruto-kun. And you will do it for Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun. After all your goal is to help them achieve their goals." Sakura smiled at her.

"Correct Hinata. And after all I can't help Naruto and Sasuke-kun if I'm weak can I? And we can't fail the boys we love can we?" She said slyly as Hinata went beetroot red.

"B..but...I...I.."

"Tut tut Hinata. I thought we had cured the stuttering thing. Everyone knows you love him, it's a fact like saying Tenten likes weapons or Naruto likes ramen. Don't worry Hinata I will help you complete your goals just like how I wanted to help Sasuke-kun and Naruto if they were here." Sakura said with a touch of sadness until Hinata threw a kunai at her. "Overeager are we? Fine I'll shut up now." Sakura said as she started throwing kicks and punches at Hinata while avoiding her hands. A certain black chicken butt haired missing nin in the forest silently left and Sakura smiled a secret smile to herself.

"Tenten!" Neji called as he started walking up to where he had left her. Maybe she had gone home. He was about to give up but then he caught sight of a small body in a pink Chinese shirt which she was planning to get rid of soon for a bigger white one. "Tenten!" He called again, this time in horror as he rushed up to her. He turned her over and looked in horror at the dried blood around her mouth.

"She will be fine." A voice said from behind him and Neji immediately swung round in the Juuken Ryuu stance because he recognised that voice. In front of him stood the missing nin, Uchiha Sasuke, already taller and wearing his Sound outfit sans headband.

"How do you know?" Neji asked suspicious, because although he didn't trust Uchiha Sasuke, Tenten was still lying half dead behind him and he had to know what he had done to her.

"I got Kabuto to teach me some basic medical ninjutsu. I healed her because I thought you would be more likely to trust me if I did that rather than let her die. I need you to do something for me." Neji blinked in surprise, Uchiha was like him, he did not speak unless he had to.

"What is it?" Neji asked and Sasuke looked surprised.

"You would do it?" He asked.

"Unlike you Uchiha I have some sense of loyalty to my friends and also to the debts I owe when someone saves one of their lives." Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the remark about loyalty and his whole body tensed in anger, at which Neji tensed to expecting an attack, but none came. He looked at Sasuke to see him looking at him back with extreme dislike but still standing in the same place.

"I need you to give this letter to Sakura and this letter to Tsunade." Sasuke said holding up two letters with the names written on them.

"Why can you not give them to the respective people?" Neji asked taking the letters.

"Does it matter?" Sasuke said, irritated. Neji nodded and smiled smugly.

"If you don't want me to read the letters and then burn them, then yes it is."

"I probably won't be able to get near the Hokage without raising the alarm because as far as I know Kakashi is still here and he would be able to sense me. And with Sakura my reasons are my own." Sasuke said stiffly and Neji once again smiled smugly.

"You know that if you actually talk to her in person, you will never be able to leave again." Neji guessed and Sasuke reluctantly nodded.

"And I have to do this without their help. Don't tell Naruto about the letters; just tell him that I will be back." And with that Sasuke disappeared and Neji smirked to himself and said aloud, just in case Uchiha was still near,

"Uchiha you are so whipped." A kunai aimed at his head was his only answer and he stopped smirking when he heard Tenten stir.

"Tenten?" He asked quietly. "Are you awake?" Tenten slowly blinked her eyes open and looked up at him in bewilderment.

"Neji? Why are you here? I thought you were still mad at me." Tenten said looking away, and Neji unable to take it anymore, wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her neck. She wrapped her arms around him in return, very surprised at this change in heart.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Neji mumbled into her neck. Tenten smiled in wonder and pulled Neji's head up to meet her eyes.

"Neji why are you sorry?" She asked.

"Because I called you a weakling. I talked to Sakura-san and she told me that for people like you and her, weak is the worst insult I could call you and I didn't mean it like that, I was calling myself weak because I could not stand up to the Hyuuga elders, I was taking it out on you. Also I'm sorry I hurt you." Neji said in a rare fit of apology.

"Apology accepted Neji. What did Sakura say to you?"

"Lots of things but mostly that calling you weak was saying that all your effort in becoming strong was wasted." Tenten was quiet for a second and then she said quietly,

"Smart girl that Sakura."

"I'm sorry." Neji felt the need to apologise again.

"One thing Neji," Tenten said after they sat in silence for a while, "How do you feel about me?" At Neji's confused look she elaborated, "Do you like me as just a teammate or a friend or a...a girlfriend." Neji once again buried his face into her neck and took a deep breath.

"All of them." He said quietly.

"What?" Tenten wanted to hear it again, hell if she could, she would get it in writing. Neji looked up straight into her eyes and mumbled,

"All of them." And then he slowly inched his head forward the remaining 4 inches between their faces and gently kissed her. Tenten was too shocked to do anything, it was only when Neji drew his head back for fear of rejection that she grabbed his head and kissed him hard. She could feel Neji smiling through the kiss and she regretted not being able to see it, but really, feeling it was ten times better. After about ten minutes of making out, they were interrupted by a slight cough. They both turned their heads to see the Dynamic Duo both with identical, blinding white grins on their faces. Tenten turned red with embarrassment and tried to slide off Neji's lap but Neji's arm around her waist held her in place. She settled for hiding her face in his neck. Neji looked down amused at the kunoichi hiding her face and then scowled slightly at the two green beasts of Konoha who were being quiet, and this freaked Neji out more than anything.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked.

"We have come for group training." Gai said while Lee shouted in his usual fashion,

"NEJI-KUN, HOW CAN YOU DEFLOWER OUR YOUTHFUL TENTEN-CHAN LIKE THAT?!" Both Neji's and Tenten's heads jerked up, put a different meaning to the words and Tenten chucked several kunai on hand at Lee, which he of course dodged. Tenten, with a quick kiss on Neji's lips, got up to continue chasing after Lee and do some target practice. Neji growled and glared at Lee and then Gai when Lee went out of sight.

"Ah Neji how good it is that you realised the youthful crush you had on Tenten! Lee and I have a youthful bet going on how long it would take for you to realise it." Gai said accompanied with the 'Good Guy Pose'. Neji glared at Gai even more when his words registered in his heads.

"You had a bet on us?" He said, Byakugan activated. Gai seemed to realise the mistake to his words and started saying,

"Nice talking to you, but I have to go beat Kakashi at another contest, uhhh bye!" He started walking towards the exit.

"Gai, start running." Neji warned in a low voice before he started running after Gai.

Two hours later Neji and Tenten were lying down at the base of the tree Tenten had collapsed in front of earlier.

"Tenten, I feel I have to warn you, I can't be that affectionate in public. Gai and Lee are different but in front of people we don't know I can't..." Neji stopped when Tenten laughed.

"Neji relax," She said smiling at him, "I know. That wouldn't be you, plus I'm just getting used to you being this affectionate in private." She joked and then said as a thought came to her, "But what about when a guy asks me out? Do I say I already have a boyfriend? Do I say it's you?" Neji, whose eyes had shot open at the first question, sat up abruptly and stared down at Tenten.

"Guys have asked you out?" He questioned and Tenten sighed.

"Trust you to focus on that. Yes they have and.."

"Name?" Neji interrupted almost angrily. Tenten seemed to be missing the point. Guys had asked her out. Guys had asked her out when it was known she was his. Well not exactly known but they still shouldn't have asked her out.

"Actually it's names Neji." Neji looked even more disturbed and pissed. "There's Aito, Akio, Daiki, Hyota and Jun."

"They all asked you out?!" Neji said, incredulous.

"Well yes, but I think Hyota wanted to date me to get to you. What you think that it's impossible that this many guys could be interested me?" Tenten said, hurt as Neji realised that he needed to do damage control.

"No! Tenten, I'm just surprised that they asked you out." Seeing that the hurt look was still there and was making him feel like he had just kicked a puppy in front of her, he continued, "Not that they were interested in you because I can understand that but that the fact they actually came up to you and asked you out. If I had known that they actually even thought of asking you out when you are mine I would killed them right there." Tenten was smiling and his way of explaining things but she didn't look hurt anymore so he sighed in relief and lay back down. He could kill them later. "As long you didn't go out with them or anything." Neji said peacefully. All trace of this peace disappeared when Tenten said,

"Wellll..."

"WHAT?" Neji shouted as he jumped up and Tenten looked at him in surprise. She had never seen him this worked up over anything apart from the main house, and shouting was really unlike him.

"Which one?" Neji said and Tenten looked up at him and the death aura and decided to tell a little white lie.

"You remember the mission to the Land of Lighting where we had to escort the rich guy?" Neji nodded and sat down again. "Well you were being annoying and were really pissed at something or another and Lee had eaten all that sugar and you two were fighting and I was fed up of being the go between with you two so I went on a date with the cute busboy at the hotel we stayed at and his name was Aito. I had a nice time but it was more of a distraction where I didn't have to be a brilliant kunoichi, or the Weapons Mistress, just Tenten, just me. It was nice." Of course it wasn't in the Land of Lighting, it was right here in Konoha and she was out with Sakura, Hinata and Ino on one of Ino's girls' nights but she really didn't want Neji to go to jail for murder.

"So it's my fault that you went on a date with him?" Neji murmured. Tenten rolled her eyes, sometimes he could be very egotistical.

"Yes Neji it's all your fault and I will only forgive you if you lay back down here." Tenten said sarcastically, which Neji realised and lay back down. Tenten put her head of his shoulders and curled up beside him. "Besides I'm with you and that's all that matters." Neji relaxed and before he fell asleep he said drowsily to Tenten,

"I have to give something to Sakura-san later. Come with me?" A murmur of agreement was given by Tenten as they both fell asleep in that position and the two (hiding) green beasts of Konoha cried (silently) at how sweet they were. Of course they tried their best not to wake them up, after all Neji and Tenten were dangerous in their own right but together they were formidable and after all Gai and Lee were not completely stupid.

**So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? First oneshot so I really want to know how I did****. Also should I do a ****SasuSaku**** sequel? Please review**** and tell me!**

**Also I wasn't expectin****g Sasuke to be in it so much. He**** was just supposed to show after Sakura was talking but then it evolved to him helping Tenten. Oh well. Anyway please REVIEW!**


	2. Healing

**And here is the long-awaited sequel! I hope it holds up to your expectations. I was planning to publish this on Neji's B-day (which I thought was the 4****th**** July) or even Sasuke's B-day (23****rd**** July) but it's late I know. But it gave me a goal to work towards!**

**Also I know it's very different to the first chapter/oneshot but I changed my mind halfway through because my first idea wasn't going to make a sequel it was more a quick explanation thing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own otherwise something like this would have happened!**

**Healing**

"Tenten do we really have to do this?" Neji asked as they walked to Team 7's training grounds.

"You said that you had to deliver a letter to Sakura from Sasuke and I know in Sakura's place that I would like to know as soon as possible. So yes we really have to do this." Tenten replied firmly. As they neared the training grounds they heard the sound of thunks as kunais buried themselves in trees, and the clash of metal on metal.

"Hinata-sama!? What are you doing here?" Neji asked as he noticed the sweating, shaking person next to Sakura Haruno.

"Yes I must get s..stronger." Hinata said.

"Okay...Hinata let's take five." Sakura said as she collapsed against a tree and Hinata did the same. "So what brings you here Neji-san, Tenten?" Sakura asked as she took a swig from her bottle of water.

"We have a letter." Tenten blurted out, "for you." Sakura looked baffled and Tenten said in a quieter voice. "It's from Sasuke-san." Sakura went instantly pale and Hinata sat up straight in shock. Neji backed up a bit because he felt like this was a discussion that he could not fully take part in.

"Tenten please can I have it?" Sakura said looking down at her feet, her clenching and unclenching hands betrayed her nervousness though.

"Here it is." Tenten handed over the letter as she and Hinata knelt beside Sakura as she slit the letter open. Tenten and Hinata leant back a bit to give her a little bit of privacy.

"_Sakura, _

_I couldn't say this before when I left because I was being watched. I didn't leave because I wanted to gain power, or to kill my brother but rather I was forced. I was offered power by the Sound ninjas and I refused. I had seen what Naruto could do when he was defending his friends against Gaara, and I admit I was jealous. It was unbelievable that the dead-last of the class could defeat an opponent that I fell against! Also I realised that I didn't not like the power Orochimaru's curse mark gave me, it felt wrong, and using it would mean that I was gaining power just like Itachi wanted._

_However when I refused it was obvious that the ninja were prepared for this eventuality. They threatened to kill you, Naruto and Kakashi in front of me so I could watch it every night like the massacre. The final nail in the coffin was when they said that they would declare war on Konoha. I couldn't let that happen, if I hadn't gone it would have been my fault that you and all the people were killed. So I'm going to bide my time until I have enough power to defeat the Snake Sannin himself and then I can be sure that Konoha and you will be safe from him. But I have to do it alone; I can't risk you getting hurt._

_I write this letter because I couldn't go another year without you knowing the truth and I'm asking you to not give up on me. Please Sakura wait for me._

_Sasuke_

Sakura stared at the letter in shock. She had no idea how to react, whether to burst down into tears because Sasuke finally admitted that he returned some of the feelings that she (and Naruto) felt for him, or to curse him for being so stupid that to still believe that she wouldn't help at all after knowing this. While she was staring, Tenten had plucked the letter out of her hands and read it herself while Hinata crowded round her, reading it as well. Tenten had no problem reacting though, disturbing Neji who had decided to meditate while he waited.

"OH MY GOD!" She shouted. Neji jumped and gave her a half-hearted glare. "This is so major! We have to tell Hokage-sama about this."

"A letter has already been given to her containing much the same information I assume." Neji said stiffly.

"I hope it doesn't have the same information." Sakura said, reading the letter again. Hinata was sniffling and said,

"That was so sweet of S..sasuke-san." Sakura nodded in agreement, her eyes getting teary. Neji rolled his eyes and Tenten bopped him over the head for being so insensitive.

"But we should go talk to Hokage-sama about it at least." Tenten said worried and Neji glanced up at her.

"But I thought we were going to be sparring." He pointed out stubbornly and Tenten sighed impatiently.

"Well we have more pressing matters like the Uchiha traitor not being such a traitor after all but rather a hero." Neji grumbled but followed the three girls to the Hokage tower.

**Hokage's office**

"SHIZUNNEEE! I NEED MORE SAKE URGENTLY!" Tsunade said as she finished reading her letter from one of the last Uchihas.

"Yes Tsunade-sama." Shizune hurried out the door with Tonton as Neji, Tenten, Sakura and Hinata walked through the door.

"Ah Hinata. Your battle with you father will take place 2 months from today." Tsunade said wearily and Tenten and Neji looked at Tsunade and then Hinata in surprise.

"That was how you solved the problem?! But Hinata-sama that's so dangerous." Neji said, worriedly but Hinata stood with an unusually firm expression on her face.

"I know Neji-nii-san but it will kill two birds with one stone. It will prove to my father and the Elders that I'm fit to be a clan leader and the Branch families won't be so restricted." She answered and Tenten said, after thinking it over for a minute,

"It's a clever idea Hinata, is that why you were training with Sakura?"

"Yes I'm hoping to get a feel for other fighting styles, and Sakura-chan can use her medical ninjutsu rather like Gentle Fist and it teaches me to avoid her hands." Hinata pointed out, with a smile on her face, seeing that one of her friends was accepting her decision. But then she turned to Neji, "Please Neji-nii-san, it's my decision and I would like you help with the training as well." Hinata's pleading look worked with Neji who conceded with a grunt.

"Anyway back to the point." Tsunade said firmly. "This letter says that Orochimaru threatened him with war on Konoha and the deaths of you, Naruto and Kakashi if he didn't go to him for power. He couldn't diverge this earlier because he was felt he was being watched most of the time, it's only 2 months ago that they starting lightening the watch."

"Really!? That's what it says?!" Sakura said in shock grabbing the letter. Tsunade sighed in annoyance.

"Yes that is what it says. Now the question is what are we going to do about it? Sasuke can't leave voluntarily because otherwise war with be declared on Konoha, but we can't let Orochimaru take him over as the next vessel otherwise we are really doomed so any ideas are welcome."

"How ready are we for war?" Neji asked, his forehead furrowing just a little bit, in which Tenten recognised the sign that he was thinking hard.

"As ready as we'll ever be probably but I'm trying to avoid war at any cost, too many lives will be lost." Tsunade replied, taking another gulp of sake. Neji frowned, to show that was not his point but luckily Tenten understood.

"That's not what Neji means though. What if Sasuke-san was given information or he gives us information and we can hopefully kill Orochimaru."

"And we can go to war against the Sound without the Sound knowing." Sakura said, dawning comprehension on her face.

"That could work. After all Itachi was strong enough with the Sharingan and pretty soon, with Sasuke's inside information he should be strong enough to beat Orochimaru." Tsunade said, looking slightly happier. But her head snapped up after a thought occurred to her. "Wait! We need to get to talk to him before he returns to Sound. Also the rest of the Konoha 11 have to be alerted. Hinata? Sakura?"

"On it!" Was Sakura's reply as she sped out the door, Hinata following her close behind.

"Okay Tenten and Neji go on with whatever you were doing before, but make yourself available so no going off to make out alright?" Tenten turned bright red at this, while Neji got slightly pink.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." They both muttered as they exited her room.

"Tenten can we please go train now?" Neji asked, outside the room, sounding rather like a petulant child. Tenten smiled at him.

"Yes but first I have to check whether Sakura is okay. I mean I know that I would be pretty messed up if you knocked me out, left me on a bench, betrayed the village only to find out that you're not actually a traitor but did it to save me, Lee, Gai-sensei and the whole of Konoha."

"Okay I admit you have a point. But I would never do that to you." Neji said as they started walking towards Team 7's training grounds.

"But would you if your father had not died but rather killed your entire clan instead?" Tenten replied and Neji looked troubled.

"I don't know." He replied, worried that he could ended up like Uchiha if their backgrounds had been switched. Tenten gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it Neji. You and Sasuke-san are two totally different people, not just because of your backgrounds. Besides I would never go out with Sasuke-san even if I did think he was cute when I first saw him..." Tenten trailed off and hoped Neji hadn't caught her little slip. But of course, she was fooling herself, there was a reason why Neji was called the Hyuuga prodigy.

"You thought the Uchiha was cute?!" Neji said, outraged and strangely hurt at the same time.

"Yes I did for a second but Neji listen." Tenten dragged Neji into a small, more private alleyway. He unwillingly focused on her. "I love you, not Sasuke-san. I thought he was a cute as a passing glance kinda thing. Like I noticed that I liked the colour of Naruto's eyes or that Sakura's hair is actually her natural colour. But I'm not going to stop loving you just because I think Sasuke-san is pretty." Neji slowly relaxed as she spoke and he smirked at the last phrase.

"You think the Uchiha is pretty?" He asked and Tenten smirked back at him.

"Course. I would kill for his bone structure."

"No I think yours is fine." Neji said as he held her chin, like he was studying her bone structure. Then he leant down and gently kissed her lips. "Yep definitely fine." He smirked as he turned back to the entrance of the alleyway.

"Hold on Hyuuga, you're not leaving me with that lame excuse of a kiss!" Tenten objected as she spun Neji round and grabbed his head, pulling it towards her. She held the kiss for about a minute until she released him slowly.

"Now that's a kiss!" She said, panting. Neji just stood there, shock laced with desire on his face. "Come on Neji!" She said using his hand to pull him along, as he was still slightly unresponsive. Tenten felt ridiculously proud that she had done that to the ice block Hyuuga as they walked hand-in-hand to the training grounds, Neji was too dazed to mind about the public display of affection.

**Team 7's training grounds **

"Sasuke-kun? Are you here?" Sakura called out as she went through the motions of looking through the foliage of trees while discreetly trying to find chakra signatures nearby. She picked up a very faint one that she recognised as human. More study showed that it was Sasuke's but he didn't seem to be ready to come out at all. "Time to use the direct approach." Sakura muttered to herself.

She looked directly at where she sensed the chakra and said boldly. "Come out Sasuke-kun."

"You've improved." Sasuke said, without surprise as he jumped down out of the tree until he was only a few feet away from Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun...is it true?" Sakura asked, desperate for the remaining doubt to be put to death. Sasuke looked slightly surprised for a second until an unusually warm expression came into his eyes.

"Yes Sakura, it's true." Sakura's breath hitched and she ran at Sasuke, almost knocking him to the ground in a hug. Sasuke wrapped one arm around her back. She started crying into his shirt and Sasuke panicked.

"No don't cry please Sakura." He begged and Sakura looked up at him.

"I just can't believe it. I'm so happy." She said, the tears still pouring down and Sasuke stared at her in confusion.

"But why are you so happy over me?" He asked.

"Didn't you hear me earlier? Or the night you left? I love you and you and Naruto and Kakashi-sensei are like my family. My goal is for you all to be happy. And even if I think revenge won't make you happy I will still help you with it if that is your goal. Like I'll help Kakashi-sensei realise that it's not his fault about his teammates and how I'll help Naruto to become Hokage."

"Thank you." Sasuke said, echoing the night he left Konoha and kissed her quickly. Sakura immediately returned it, the bubble of happiness growing inside her. When they finally released each other, Sakura started laughing in happiness and Sasuke had a small smile on his face.

"Okay now to business." Sakura said as they sat down and leant against a large tree, but she still had a happy smile on her face.

"What business?" Sasuke asked warily.

"Well Sasuke-kun we can't just leave you to Orochimaru can we? You must have expected this, after all you sent those letters." Sakura replied.

"I sent those so everything would be much easier to sort out when I came back." Sasuke argued and Sakura smiled at the 'when'.

"Well you've sent them so we are going to help. Now you can't leave and we can't free you without the Sound going to war against us. But Tsunade-sama and I was thinking that you either kill Orochimaru using your knowledge and Tsunade-sama's knowledge on his weaknesses, or you give us as much information and we come to 'kidnap' you and 'make' you come back while killing Orochimaru in the process."

"Well even though I dislike the idea of you getting hurt on the mission, I think the second one is the best because I would like to save the Sound village." Sasuke said thoughtfully and when Sakura looked at him curiously he elaborated, "Most of the ninjas of the Sound village are loyal to Orochimaru but the civilians and a few ninja are not because Orochimaru took over the village and he rules the villagers by fear. If Orochimaru is dead along with his most loyal ninja then they can be freed."

"That sounds awful. I never thought that the Sound village didn't become evil because it wanted to." Sasuke smirked slightly and held onto Sakura's hand as she fretted.

"Sakura-san!" Tenten called out as she approached the training grounds and Sakura and Sasuke rose to their feet. She smiled at the two of them and she and Neji approached. Neji smirked when he noticed how close Sakura and Sasuke were standing.

"What were you saying about not meeting her Uchiha?" He gloated and Sasuke glared at him.

"Come on you two please play nice." Sakura said. Then she turned to Tenten, "Okay plan B could work according to Sasuke-kun but he needs to talk to Tsunade-sama." Tenten nodded and then turned to Sasuke.

"Okay then Sasuke-san you need to mask your chakra as much as you are able and then I will cast a henge jutsu on you." Tenten said, smiling slightly. Sasuke eyeballed her but after a pleading look from Sakura he did what she said. Neji watched this with a gloating look on his face and Sasuke glared at him but it was only after Tenten glared at Neji that he stopped. Sasuke immediately copied Neji's look and Sakura muttered darkly,

"There's so much testosterone here I might choke." Both girls grabbed the guys' hands and started pulling them towards the Hokage tower.

**Hokage Tower**

"Ah hello Sakura. Did you do what you were supposed to do? And who is this?" Tsunade asked in curiosity as she casually examined his chakra on the brown haired man before her. Sakura and Tenten grinned suddenly which disarmed Tsunade for a moment.

"This is Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, in a slightly hushed tone.

"And since his disguise fooled you, it could pretty much fool any ninja in Konoha." Tenten pointed out as Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise.

"Maybe it is better than you are here Uchiha, it would be easier to make myself understood. I assume that since you wrote those letters you still want to be seen as a Konoha nin?" Sasuke nodded slightly.

"But no one else can know. I've been trying to find out Orochimaru's spies in Konoha but I've only got a few names so far." Tsunade nodded in gratitude and continued,

"So your mission is to find out the ninjas who wouldn't be completely opposed to a takeover, let us know and then when you feel you are strong enough, defeat Orochimaru. Sakura and Naruto will go with you to hold off and if necessary kill any ninja that try and interfere with the assassination. Also the rest of the Konoha 11 will be spread out in the Sound village to protect civilians, kill any ninja that try and interfere etc. Do you think the rest of your teammates and Teams 10 and 8 will be willing to help?" Tsunade said, turning to Neji and Tenten.

"Hai Tsunade-sama. Hinata would gladly do it, and the rest of her team will follow her lead. Ino will also do it and probably bully Shikamaru and Chouji into it. And Lee will help for the simple reason that his 'beautiful flower' is going as well." Tenten said, snickering slightly at the nickname, at which Sakura blushed and Sasuke glowered. Tsunade just nodded and turned back to Sasuke.

"Okay a secret jutsu has recently been thought up which allows you to write anything onto a piece of paper and it will disappear there and reappear here after the jutsu is performed. It is basically the transporting jutsu performed on another object and will allow spies to contact us more easily. However it does use up a lot of chakra so perform it right before you go to bed so your chakra can be rejuvenated." Sasuke nodded and started copying the hand seals Tsunade was performing, trying to memorise them.

"Does this jutsu work both ways?" Sakura asked as she watched both Sasuke's and Tsunade's hands.

"Yes but we have to be careful with it because it isn't very subtle this jutsu." Tsunade warned. "Yes you've got it Sasuke." She said as she watched his fast set of seals. "Okay that's probably all I need to tell you, because anything more I can communicate with you. When Shikamaru gets back from his mission, I'll tell the rest of the Konoha 11 about it and use his help to plan the battle. Now you better go."

"Tsunade-sama." The formal address by Sasuke caught Tsunade's ears and she realised that whatever he was about to say was important. "I'm sorry that people were hurt trying to get me back, but I believed I was doing the right thing." She accepted his apology with a nod, but he wasn't finished. "About my brother...I still need to defeat him." Sasuke said, a little of his old avenger manner slid back into his behaviour even though he still hadn't let go of Sakura's hand after he had grabbed it.

"Fine Uchiha. I will send any missions that seem to have anything to do with your brother towards you, but only if I think you can handle it, alright?" Tsunade said with a heavy warning in her voice and Sasuke nodded in understanding and allowed himself to be led by Sakura out the door.

"You two are dismissed." Tsunade said with a wave of her hand and Tenten and Neji bowed before letting themselves out.

"Now we go and train together." Neji ordered but was cut off by Tenten who said with a smile of her face,

"No, now we have to go help Hinata defeat her father so that you and her are one step closer to eradicate the whole Branch House-Main House thing." Neji agreed reluctantly, since it was one of his life goals and followed Tenten.

When all of the Konoha 11 were gathered again, they were explained the situation and after some adverse reactions ("that no good traitor wants our help now?!") they agreed to go along with the plan.

"So basically we need a strategy that will let you all be hidden beforehand and able to take down any ninja that you need to. Also the civilians cannot be hurt because from Sasuke's account, they are forced to be part of the Sound village. Once they're there they can't leave." Tsunade finished off looking at Shikamaru who muttered something and stepped forward.

"It would be good to have a few of us integrated into the Sound community a few months before. This way the civilians and ninjas will trust us more. People like Tenten and Lee would be good since they don't have any notable clan jutsus or features like Kiba's face tattoos and the Hyuuga eyes."

"Okay so Tenten, Lee, you, Chouji and Ino will infiltrate Sound as villagers alright?"

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered while the rest of them nodded. He spoke up, "Also we should do it a couple of people at a time so they don't suspect anything."

"Yes I know. I'm not stupid." Tsunade snapped and Shikamaru backed off.

Shikamaru worked with Sakura to develop a strategy for them to get in and bring down Sound quickly with minimum injury. The next 2 months were spent preparing for the war with several new silent techniques being thought up as well as the whole of the group working almost non-stop with Hinata so she would be ready to face her father.

Naruto was sent for, against Sasuke's wishes, and when he came back with Jiraiya in tow, they were both explained what had happened and why they were needed back in Konoha for the time being.

**The fight**

"It seems as everyone feels as though the invasion with the Sound will only go well if Hinata defeats her father." Tsunade remarked to Shizune lowly as she came to watch the fight.

"Well I guess this fight is a symbol to show how far they have all come and that's why it's so important." Shizune replied as she watched the rest of the Konoha 11 who were opposite them. Naruto detached himself from Hinata (who he had grabbed in a hug) with a few words that made her seem to glow with pride and her confidence visibly lift. She faced her father with her jaw set and he eyed her in newfound apprehension. Then he turned round to announce to the crowd of Hyuugas and shinobi.

"Now the rules for this fight are clear. When one concedes or becomes unable to fight it is the end of the fight. If my daughter wins here today the Hyuuga elders will no longer have any say in who any Hyuuga marry and children will no longer be branded with the curse mark. This is all coming from my daughter's request so if that happens you have her to thank." He turned to Hinata. "I'm saying that I won't hold back. Until you are fit to be Hyuuga clan leader you have no say in the running of the clan. Now Hokage-sama if you please." He finished by getting into the Hyuuga fighting stance. Hinata did the same.

"Alright start." Tsunade called out. For a few moments they both just examined each other until Hiashi ran at Hinata with his hands glowing with chakra. Hinata shifted her position slightly and blocked his strike. The following match was as fast-paced as the one between Neji and Hinata in the preliminaries and during this Hinata realised that in the Gentle Fist technique, her and her father were equals and that she couldn't defeat him by toughing it out since his stamina was so much greater than hers.

After this Hinata ducked a palm strike to the chest and then she leapt back her hands already blurring with hand signs. Four clones appeared by her and they immediately attacked her father while one held back. Hiashi realised that he couldn't score a hit on any of the clones without attacking him so he performed the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou on them and they dispelled. He stilled for one moment to get his breath back and then attacked Hinata again. Hinata, having seen this before when she attacked other Hyuugas, used a technique that she had learned from Neji.

"Hakke Hasangeki!" She called as managed to land a hit on her father, but at the expense of him getting a hit of her. However while she realised that some of her chakra points had been closed, 

Hiashi had been thrown backwards with explosive force, hitting the ground hard. Hinata took this time to use the technique she had developed from the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou. She ran up to Hiashi and when he was in range, she started to do the motions for the Kaiten. However this was slightly different, her chakra sliced inwards, cutting her father and slashing his robes.

He quickly jumped back, breathing heavily but with pride in his eyes. He started hand signs and soon a large jet of water hit Hinata who dodged and countered with an earth wall surrounding her to block the water. When it descended she threw a wind jutsu had her father who used the Kaiten to deflect. When he was just about to power down she threw a kunai at his blind spot and just as it was about to hit him he shifted so the kunai left a glancing cut on the back of his neck.

Hinata noted this and hit him with the Earth Dragon Projectile jutsu. Her father used Kaiten again but his movements were slightly slower this time. When Hinata conjured several clones and sent them at him, his movements had slowed enough for one of the clones to get a hit in the stomach. After he had dispelled the clones with the Gentle Fist style of fighting and several kunai he had practically stopped moving at all.

"What did you do to me?" He questioned Hinata.

"The kunai that scratched you had a paralysing poison on it. It takes a few minutes to work so I tried to speed it up by attacking you. However since I had applied it earlier, the poison had dried on the blade, leaving it invisible to the Byakugan. I know because I used it on Neji earlier this week. It should wear off in a couple of hours." Hinata said while many of the Hyuugas stared at her, not just because of what she was saying but how much she was saying.

"The winner is: Hinata! Congratulations." Tsunade happily announced and smiled at Hinata who smiled back. Most of the Hyuugas and the Konoha 11 cheered and Naruto ran onto the field to sweep Hinata into a hug. Tenten was hugging Neji who seemed to be almost smiling down at her. The cheering soon died down but all of the non-Hyuugas and several Hyuugas had large smiles on their faces. A pregnant woman in the crowd had burst into noisy tears when the winner was announced.

"I trust that the changes I wanted will be put into place." Hinata said respectfully but firmly to the small group of Hyuuga elders. One of younger ones, that had been wanting the change, came forward and nodded happily. Hinata smiled a small smile before joining her friends and boyfriend who was now teasing Neji about the kiss he had laid on Tenten. As a group they moved towards the entrance of the Hyuuga compound after Kiba, Naruto and Neji who was chasing the other two for the teasing. Tenten was laughing happily even though there was a red tinge on her face. They all met up at the Team 7 training grounds which had become their base place to hang out over the last 2 months as they all helped each other train and they had become a tighter group because of that.

"So all we have to do is defeat the Sound now." Chouji said with a slightly worried expression. Sakura chuckled.

"We'll do it. Together we helped Hinata and together we can help Sasuke-kun. Don't worry Chouji it'll all work out."

**1 year later**

Sasuke dodged the snake Sannin's teeth once again and caught a glimpse of Sakura fighting Kabuto. _I have to do it, if I don't my friends will die._ This thought caused him to focus again and he saw the minuscule gap in Orochimaru's defence. He moved at a high speed and brought his katana down and pumped Chidori through it when it made contact. The white snake that was Orochimaru shrieked in pain, stiffened and then flopped to the ground. Sasuke stood, looking down at the snake, wondering how it could be over so quickly.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura greeted him as she left the fallen body of Kabuto and went forward to heal Sasuke's wounds.

"No Sakura. Save your chakra for the others. My wounds are non-serious at the moment." Sasuke frowned at her and then scanned the large room for Naruto. He saw him surrounded by red chakra, 

finishing off the last of the Sound Four. When he fell, Naruto's eyes found Sakura and Sasuke and he grinned.

"Hey guys you've finished?!" Naruto called, his eyes returning to their blue chakra. They both nodded in response. "Okay well I have to go find Hinata!" He raced off and Sakura chuckled at their eager friend.

"Come on Sasuke-kun, we're one step closer." She said quietly to Sasuke who smirked in response and followed her out the door.

Outside they realised that Shikamaru's plan of attacking silently and quickly and most of the ninjas that Sasuke had indicated were either dead or unconscious. One that was tied up though, was conscious, and he spat at Sasuke as he came closer.

"Orochimaru-sama will make sure you pay for this, he will reap his revenge!"

"Pretty hard to do from beyond the grave." Naruto remarked in a bored tone from behind the ninja. He had obviously been the one to tie him up. The ninja's neck cracked as his head spun round to look at Naruto.

"Orochimaru-sama cannot die, he is immortal." He said, more angrily this time.

"No he is definitely dead. Being run through with a katana several times, a shot to the heart with chakra and a Rasengan to the stomach means he's probably not going to be getting up anytime soon." Sakura remarked, staring at the ninja with distaste. The ninja returned the look and then spat at her feet. Before he could even blink Sasuke had him gripped by the throat and was staring at him with Sharingan.

"You don't disrespect her." He hissed menacingly. Naruto smirked, after he got over the shock, while Sakura just stared at Sasuke. She had never heard him defend her so strongly before.

"It's okay Sasuke-kun, I don't expect anything less from one of Orochimaru's followers." She said soothingly as she laid a hand on his hand and gently tugged it down. Sasuke released the man and let him drop to the ground. He turned to the civilians behind him who were looking at him with a range of emotions: fear, shock, surprise and relief. One brave man stepped forward and asked timidly,

"Is it true Sasuke-sama? Did you really kill Orochimaru-sama?" Sasuke frowned at both suffixes, which caused the man to step back in fear, but he nodded and answered,

"Yes I did." Now relief was the most prominent expression on everyone's faces. The rest of the Konoha ninja stared around in surprise.

"Woah I didn't realise that the Sound village really was this oppressed." Tenten muttered to Neji who nodded back in agreement.

"Well then, we welcome you and your friends, Otokage-sama." The man finished by bowing to all the shocked ninja.

"But I can't be Otokage." Sasuke said, still staring in shock at the man.

"But you defeated the oppressor Orochimaru, and you can make us great like Konoha." The man persisted with.

"No I promised that I would go back home to Konoha." Sasuke argued back and the man looked heartbroken. Naruto whispered to Sakura,

"The home is where the heart is." Sakura looked round in shock and motioned to herself. Naruto nodded and smiled, a sad smile. "You should be with him, maybe being a Kage will help him to forgive himself." He whispered again, grabbing onto Hinata's hand, who had appeared next to him. Sakura understood and nodded. She walked up to Sasuke and grabbed his hand and then whispered something in his ear.

"Really?!" He asked quietly, increduosly. She smiled and nodded.

"You can help these people, and with your power you can make sure that it doesn't fall under another oppressor or even worse to Akatsuki." Sasuke nodded and seeing that he was beginning to change his mind, the man jumped in,

"Your goal of killing your brother, is well known, and becoming Otokage here will help with that."

"How so?" Sasuke questioned with a faint interested air.

"Well we have many powerful ninja here to help you train and some resources available here that you won't be able to get anywhere else." Sasuke nodded and turned to Sakura.

"And will you be there with me?" He asked quietly so no one else could hear. Sakura nodded and hugged him round the waist. Sasuke hugged her back and rested his chin on her head. When she pulled back she whispered,

"Always." Sasuke smiled a funny sort of half-smile at her and then he nodded to the man whose face spilt into a wide grin and everyone mimicked his expression.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted, getting Sasuke's attention and all the villagers stared at him in shock. "That means we can both be kages!" Sasuke smirked at him and replied with an eye-roll and a,

"Sure dobe." Then he turned back to the man, "What is your name?" The man looked surprised for a moment before answering,

"Ito Daichi."

"Okay I'll need to see you sometime." Sasuke remarked and then turned his head back to his friends. "I think we should go back to Konoha and inform Tsunade of it." He said.

"That wouldn't be wise." Neji argued and Sasuke raised his eyebrow at him.

"Why not?" He asked but it was Shikamaru who answered.

"This village in vulnerable at the moment with no Otokage and over half the ninjas gone, so someone needs to stay here to protect it and send for help if needed. So since you are going to be the new Otokage the job is very fitting for you." Sasuke reluctantly agreed and Sakura and Naruto volunteered to stay as well. The others set off for Konoha."

"So what needs to be done first?" Sakura asked Sasuke surveying the villagers who were waiting for orders.

"The experiments." Sasuke said shortly and started leading Sakura to the building where Orochimaru had been residing. "The locations are in here." He called out behind him since Naruto was also following behind him.

"So do you feel like an Otokage yet Sasuke-sama?" Sakura teased on their way and Naruto grinned enjoying the joke. Sasuke mock-glared at her.

"Not at the moment but I could definitely get used to it." Sasuke said with a certain satisfied air.

"Pompous bastard." Naruto muttered and Sasuke hit him on the head. Watching the two argue Sakura was overcome with emotion and grabbed both of them by the necks in a hug. When she released them, they both stared at her with worried expressions.

"What was that for Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Oh I'm just happy that I have my boys back." She answered and when she grinned at them they both grinned back.

**Wow I'm not sure whether I love that ending or hate it for being horribly cheesy. But what do you think?**

**This sequel wouldn't be here without the people who reviewed:**

**Merciless Ruby, Nerd4eva, SMILE;p, matsukanishi09, Higura Natume, Nightshadow Dweller, siny, themadanimeotaku, FunnierThanAPenguinEat'nATaco, herbblade, LC the cow, NEJITENSASUSAKUDEISAKU, icemadien-darkangel, animegirl9989, Tennie-chan and Shoelacey!**

**BIG BIG THANKS to SMILE;p because I use part of her idea so thanks so much!**

**Also thanks to the people who favourite:**

**Aya Azaihna, Brightfairy13, FunnierThanAPenguinEat'nATaco, Lala-tan, Midnight Samurai, Nerd4eva, Nightshadow Dweller, Shoelacey, StaticGypsy (love your name btw), animegirl9989, bbunny350, icemadien-darkangel, kitten9322, random-anime-gurl, shining kitsune, t3h-musical-muffin, temafan4695, tennie-chan04, themadanimeotaku.**

**And thanks to the people who alerted this fic:**

**Nerd4Eva, Shoelacey, icemadien-darkangel, Tennie-chan.**

**Wow that's a lot of thanks but it's all meant so thank you so much! I really liked the fight scene between Hinata and Hiashi (mostly cause it's my best one so far I feel) so please comment on what you think with that!**


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